Don’t worry, you’re not about to read the complete Book IV of Paradise Lost. If you’re up for such an undertaking, you better buy yourself a copy of John Milton’s masterpiece and read all the Books. I just want to give you a few of the most beautiful lines. Set in the garden of Eden, Eve tells Adam that none of the beauty they share means anything without him. If that’s not love, I don’t know what is.
With thee conversing, I forget all time,
All seasons, and their change, all please alike.
Sweet is the breath of morn, her rising sweet,
With charm of earliest birds; pleasant the sun,
When first on this delightful land he spreads
His orient beams, on herb, tree, fruit, and flower,
Glistering with dew; fragrant the fertile earth
After soft showers; and sweet the coming on
Of grateful evening mild, then silent night,
With this her solemn bird and this fair moon,
And these the gems of heaven, her starry train:
But neither breath of morn when she ascends
With charm of earliest birds, nor rising sun
On this delightful land, nor herb, fruit, flower,
Glistering with dew, nor fragrance after showers,
Nor grateful evening mild, nor silent night
With her solemn bird, nor walk by moon,
Or glittering starlight without thee is sweet.
John Milton
Alix in Wonderland 